Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Two-thousand-eight brought with it a lot of change, both on a personal and cultural level. For the first time in my life, I felt inspired to contribute to make a change in the political landscape. Politics have always interested me, but I’ve never felt the need to actively participate in any way; in fact, I’ve purposely shied away from them on many occasions. I’m very satisfied with the work I did, though I wish I had done more. I didn’t do more because Ineeded to put my band first. Still, I will always be proud of having contributed in some way.

This year also saw that fateful day June 2nd: the day after my birthday in which I cut off my long dreadlocks. I had not gotten a haircut since early 2002. I loved having long hair but my dreadlocks were down to my ass (literally). Rather than cut them shorter (which seemed absurd to me), I opted to cut them completely off. I thought about it for months. There was the obvious concern about being the frontman in a rock band and having to sell a certain image or my worries of being accused of selling out. In the end, none of that shit mattered and I did it. I remember at the first show I played sans-dreads, some guy looked at me like I’d just broken his heart. Thirty minutes later we got onstage and did what we do best. Afterward, our heart-broken friend seemed very pleased with our performance. In the end it was just hair. Who gives a shit?

As far as my band’s concerned, I managed to organize everything to secure our record’s upcoming release. It was hard, but I got through the tough times and the endless frustration. I just hope the next time isn’t as hard but if it is, I’ll be ready.Happy New Year to everyone. Thank you for reading.

Written/Performed/ Spoken/Photographed by

I am a red wine fiend that enjoys laughing almost as much as he enjoys music. I am that one friend of yours that you're not entirely sure why you like him, you just do. I'm that guy sitting in the corner of the room, strumming a few chords on a crummy guitar. I'm that introverted student you used to see around campus, sitting on the floor reading a book. I'm that annoying driver you see everyday singing along to the car stereo, banging on the steering wheel playing air drums. I'm that late night romantic that stares out the window and wonders why the day must come. I am the writer of many works that will never see the light of day. I'm an explorer that gets inspired every day by a sense of possibility greater than himself. Hello. My name is Noel, and the pleasure is all mine.